Portsbridge Creek
Portsbridge Creek (also Port Creek, Ports Creek and Canal Creek) is a tidal waterway just off the southern coast of England that runs between Portsea Island and the mainland [1] from Langstone Harbour to Tipner Lake. Through its history it has been made navigable a number of times and it is today navigable for small boats.
![](../I/m/Ports_Creek2009.jpg)
History
The creek and in particular the creek's crossing has been the site of defensive works possibly as far back as the reign of Henry VIII of England.[2]
During the English Civil War Royalist forces attempted to hold the parliamentarian forces at the creek during the early stages of the Siege of Portsmouth.[3] Defences consisted of a wooden barricade mounted on the bridge backed by a small fort equipped with 4 guns.[3] The guns were withdrawn on 10 August 1642 and with the barricade held by as few as 8 men the parliamentarian forces were able to cross the creek two days later.[3]
A fort at the site of the crossing of the creek turns up in plans from 1660 and 1666.[2] The fort was rebuilt in 1688 under the direction of the Chief Royal Engineer Sir Martin Beckman.[2]
It has been suggested that the presence of a customs officer in Cosham was to deal with attempts at landing contraband from Portsbridge Creek.[4]
The waterway was made navigable by the Portsmouth & Arundel Navigation company in 1830 after the failure of the Portsea Canal.[5] The work to deepen the creek cost £1000.[6] It proved difficult to keep the creek clear for navigation and a canal called the Cosham Canal to provide an alternative route was proposed, although it was never built.[7] The canal company abandoned the creek in 1838.[5] An army report on the status of the Hilsea Lines made in 1853 mentioned that the creek was filled with weeds to the point where for 3 to 4 hours every day it could be walked across.[8] Later in the decade as part of upgrade works on the Hilsea Lines, the creek was widened and deepened to allow it to be used by gunboats.[9] Dams and flood gates were constructed at the ends of the creek to allow it to be kept it in water at all stages of the tide.[10] The remains of one of these dams can be seen at the eastern end of the creek.[10]
In 1963 there was a suggestion that it be redeveloped as the Dunkirk Memorial Channel.[1] In the late 1960s the A27 was built on part of the channel while the remainder was dredged.[11] This, along with other improvements, made the creek navigable for small boats.[11] In 2015 new flood defences were constructed alongside the creek between the railway bridge and the eastern road bridge.[12]
Bridges over the creek
Bridges have been built across the creek at various locations. The first record of a bridge across the creek date from the last decade of the 12th century.[13] In the 15th-century double-arched stone bridge was built at the western end of the creek.[14] In 1867 a new retractable bridge was constructed at a cost of £5,000 to allow the passage of gunboats.[15] The bridge was built as a steel frame with a wooden deck consisting of two 12-foot-wide (3.7 m) lanes.[15] In 1904 the bridge was transferred to the Portsmouth Corporation (forerunner of Portsmouth City Council) who fixed it in place and reinforced it to allow trams to run across it.[15] The bridge was replaced by a wider bridge in 1927,[15] which in turn was replaced by the current structure in 1970 during the construction of the A27.[15]
The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway built a wooden bridge across the creek in 1847.[14] This was replaced by a swing bridge in 1870.[16] An Admiralty order required the bridge to open between 2 and 3am on the first Sunday of every February.[16] The swing bridge was supplanted by a drawbridge in 1909 which has been fixed in place since 1920.[14][17]
A bridge was added at the eastern end of the creek in 1941.[14] Another crossing (Peronne Road) built during World War II was a causeway with the creek being limited to a small pipe.[1] This was replaced by a footbridge during the construction of the A27.[11]
References
- "Historic Campaigns - Ports Creek". Inland Waterways Association. 2006. Archived from the original on 26 February 2008. Retrieved 13 September 2009.
- Mitchell, Garry (1988). Hilsea Lines and Portsbridge. p. 1. ISBN 0-947605-06-1.
- Webb, John (1977). The Siege of Portsmouth in the Civil War. Portsmouth City Council. pp. 14–15. ISBN 0-901559-33-4.
- Tweed, Ronald (2000). A History of Langstone Harbour and its environs in the County of Hampshire. Dido Publications. pp. 62–63. ISBN 0-9533312-1-0.
- Vine, P.A.L (1990). Hampshire Waterways. Middleton Press. p. 103. ISBN 0-906520-84-3.
- Cuthbert, Ted (1988). Portsmouth's Lost Canal. Environmental Education Project. p. 42.
- "Hampshire Canals". University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 13 September 2009.
- Mitchell, Garry (1988). Hilsea Lines and Portsbridge. p. 2. ISBN 0-947605-06-1.
- Local Studies Resource Guide to The Defence of Portsmouth Harbour: Part 1 The Eastern Defences. Portsmouth Teachers' local study group. 1980. p. 27.
- Fontana, Val; Fontana, Dominic (2000). "A brief historical survey". In Allen, Michael J; Gardiner, Julie (eds.). Our Changing Coast: a survey of the intertidal archaeology of Langstone Harbour Hampshire. York: Council for British Archaeology. p. 82. ISBN 1-902771-14-1.
- "Portsmouth City Council planning service student information sheet Northharbour Land reclamation" (PDF). Portsmouth City Council. March 1999. p. 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 6 October 2009.
- "Thousands of Portsmouth homes to get more flood protection". The News. Johnston Press Digital Publishing. 29 January 2015. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
- Quail, Sarah (1994). The Origins of Portsmouth and the First Charter. City of Portsmouth. p. 8. ISBN 978-0901559920.
- Vine, P.A.L (1990). Hampshire Waterways. Middleton Press. p. 104. ISBN 0-906520-84-3.
- Mitchell, Garry (1988). Hilsea Lines and Portsbridge. pp. 26–29. ISBN 0-947605-06-1.
- Mitchell, Garry (1988). Hilsea Lines and Portsbridge. p. 30. ISBN 0-947605-06-1.
- Vine, P.A.L. (1994). London to Portsmouth Waterway. Middleton Press. pp. 119–121. ISBN 978-1873793435.